Chapter 463: What Is Regret? Second in the Ballon d'Or (For Nuan Yang 13)

Clap clap clap clap!

Clap clap clap clap!

Thunderous applause erupted throughout the venue as Neymar and Mbappé pushed Tang Ye up from his chair.

"Thank you."

"Thank you, thank you."

Tang Ye pressed his palms together to thank the guests in the audience, then slowly walked up to the podium.

CCTV5.

"China Central Television! Good evening, dear viewers."

"We are broadcasting live from the Grand Palais in Paris for the 2018 Ballon d'Or award ceremony. Before the Ballon d'Or rankings are announced, France Football will first present the trophy for this year's Goalkeeper Goalkeeper Kepa Award winner, Tang Ye."

Beaming with a full smile, Tang Ye continuously waved to the guests behind him as he ascended.

It was a gathering of football players and agents, so Tang Ye knew half the people present.

Reaching the podium, he shook hands with the host, then picked up the golden trophy resting on the table.

The trophy was shaped like a tree.

Whether viewed from afar or up close, it looked very handsome.

Hehe!

After taking the trophy, he turned around, only to find the host staring at him with an incredulous expression.

"What's wrong?"

"Um, Tom..."

The host looked somewhat awkward: "Actually, we have a guest presenter."

"Oh, sorry, sorry!"

He had messed up the procedure!

Tang Ye quickly placed the trophy back on the table.

"Well, uh... it seems there's been a slight mishap on site."

"Tang Ye just picked up the trophy directly."

It was a minor slip-up, but it didn't matter; the host and the guests on site were all very understanding and did not give Tom a hard time.

The camera panned to the edge of the podium.

"Oh, this is the wife of the French legend Lei Mengde Goalkeeper Kepa; the so-called Goalkeeper Goalkeeper Kepa Award is named after her husband, and she is also the guest presenter for the inaugural Goalkeeper Goalkeeper Kepa Award."

The white-haired lady walked to the center of the podium amidst applause and handed the golden tree trophy, symbolizing the best U21 player, into Tang Ye's hands.

"Thank you."

Tang Ye raised his right fist intending to bump fists with Lady Goalkeeper Kepa, but realizing that was inappropriate, he changed it to a handshake at the last moment.

Under the focus of the on-site cameras, Tang Ye held the trophy with both hands and lifted it high.

【Trophee Kopa 2018 (2018 Goalkeeper Goalkeeper Kepa Award)】

【Tang Ye】

"Tom, thank you very much for taking time out of your schedule to attend our award ceremony."

Shaking hands with the host once more, Tang Ye ran down.

Clutching the trophy to his chest, Tang Ye whispered to Mbappé beside him.

Up in the stands, the host was still introducing Tang Ye's detailed match statistics for the year, which really wasn't worth listening to anymore.

If it were the unrestricted Ballon d'Or, there might be some room for comparison.

But with the age restriction, GGBond was purely invincible.

【Warning: You are illegally obtaining the Goalkeeper Goalkeeper Kepa Award trophy by misrepresenting your age. Please immediately cease your improper cooperation with France Football newspaper, or you may face punishment again.】

The system started barking like a dog again.

But Tang Ye didn't listen.

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: The 2018 Ballon d'Or rankings are being announced sequentially.

【29th Place: Lloris】

【29th Place: Isco】

【28th Place: Godín】

Fans following the news felt immense pressure.

The guests inside the venue felt even greater pressure!

Tang Ye tightly gripped the base of the Goalkeeper Goalkeeper Kepa Award trophy with both hands.

He remembered that last year he had ranked 7th.

So what about this year?

【13th Place: Neymar】

Photos of Neymar wearing his Paris and Brazil jerseys lit up on the screen, and Tang Ye quickly offered his applause.

【12th Place: Kanté】

【11th Place: Kane】

Both the 12th and 11th places came from the Premier League, names Tang Ye was still quite familiar with.

Next was the top ten!

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: The Ballon d'Or rankings are being announced sequentially; De Bruyne is 10th, Hazard is 9th.

Seeing this, Tang Ye couldn't help but feel regret for his good friend Kevin.

If Belgium had performed normally at the World Cup, relying on Kevin's ability to surge to 7th or even 6th place would not have been a major problem.

Of course, Hazard is indeed formidable.

If he hadn't agreed to swap positions with me, Tang Ye would never have been able to sit beside Neymar and Mbappé!

【8th Place: Varane】

【7th Place: Salah】

【6th Place: Messi】

After Messi's ranking was announced, Check Dongqiu Di and Weibo erupted in discussion once again.

It was now confirmed that neither Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo had attended this year's award ceremony.

Was it because they already knew in advance that they wouldn't win an award?

Tang Ye was also pondering this question.

He actually had contact information for both Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, but asking them directly was clearly not a good choice.

If he thought about it himself...

Forget it!

Tang Ye shook his head; Cristiano and Leo were indeed formidable, but their affairs had little to do with him.

He should figure out his own ranking first before worrying about anything else!

It was a bit thrilling, like a teacher handing out exam papers on the podium.

Among the thirty papers, one was bound to be his.

The later you went up to collect it, the higher your ranking in the class!

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: Messi 6th, Tang Ye locks in a top-five spot.

"Next is the 5th place winner of this year's Ballon d'Or! Kylian Mbappé!!!"

Clap clap clap!!!

Tang Ye clapped vigorously, aiming to generate the greatest momentum for his good friend.

GGBond was indeed one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans!

"4th place... Antoine Griezmann!!!"

Unexpectedly, Mbappé's ranking was not higher than Griezmann's; Tang Ye wanted to cry injustice for Mbappé, but the occasion was too awkward, so he held his tongue.

Of course, the truth was that Tang Ye hadn't really watched many of Griezmann's matches anyway.

He had his own set of rankings in his heart, placing the people he knew at the front.

If the organizers did not rank the thirty players according to Zhong De Xiang Fa, they would definitely be criticized by Tom!

"So now there are only three players remaining: Modrić from Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo from Juventus, and Tang Ye from Manchester United."

"These three players are the top three of this year's Ballon d'Or."

Even the audience in front of their televisions could detect a hint of tension in He Wei's tone.

【3rd Place: Cristiano Ronaldo】

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: 2018 Ballon d'Or rankings being announced sequentially, Cristiano Ronaldo third.

Transferring to Juventus had indeed brought some impact to Cristiano Ronaldo; the competitiveness displayed by the Portuguese player in the latter half of 2018 was indeed somewhat insufficient.

But fortunately, with the Champions League title from the first half of the year as a safety net, Cristiano Ronaldo's ranking naturally could not be low.

Cristiano Ronaldo's name appeared on the screen, but the guests at the venue focused their attention on Tang Ye and Modrić.

"..."

Tang Ye's mouth opened slightly, his gaze fixed forward.

He had thought he was third, only to realize unexpectedly that he was in the top two.

Honestly, this ranking had somewhat exceeded his expectations, as Tang Ye had never imagined he could surpass Cristiano Ronaldo this year.

The venue fell silent; if you bent down, you could even faintly hear the ticking of Richard Mille and Rolex watch hands.

Cristiano Ronaldo's image vanished from the screen, replaced by a photo of Tang Ye scoring twice against Germany at the Russia World Cup and celebrating with a knee slide.

【2nd Place: Tang Ye (Manchester United, China)】

Clap clap clap!

Clap clap clap clap!

Holding the Kopa Trophy, Tang Ye stood up from his seat and thanked the fans around him who were applauding.

Click!

Click click!

After the award ceremony concluded, Tang Ye, along with Mbappé, De Bruyne, and Griezmann, headed to the mixed interview zone.

During a break in the interviews, a French female reporter slipped a small note to Mbappé, which was spotted immediately by Tang Ye.

"I saw nothing."

Tang Ye raised both hands, looking at his good friend Kylian with sincere eyes.

Actually, it wasn't just Tang Ye; De Bruyne had noticed it too.

"Their midfielders are like this; I truly saw nothing."

Griezmann shrugged, adding an innocent expression.

Mbappé shook his head; actually, if he had noticed just now, he would have returned the note.

Because that female reporter was not Goalkeeper Goalkeeper Kepa's type.

"Tom, may I ask how you feel about winning second place in the Ballon d'Or?"

Over forty reporters in the interview zone stood ready.

No one asked about the Kopa Trophy, because their focus was entirely on Tang Ye finishing second for the Ballon d'Or.

The players' scores had not yet been released, but it was estimated that the point difference between Tang Ye and Modrić would not be too large.

Nineteen years old, the Ballon d'Or, but just a little short—all the key elements were already in place.

"Uh... it's a bit of a pity, I guess."

"Did you guess your ranking beforehand?"

A reporter thrust a microphone in front of Tang Ye's mouth.

"To be honest, no. I guessed I would be third or fourth, because I felt my performance wasn't much different from Cristiano's, at least this year. I didn't expect to end up second in the end, so I am still a bit excited."

"Of course, there is also regret," Tang Ye added.

Second place was indeed better than the expected third or fourth, but the problem was that second and first were only one spot apart, so when he actually achieved it, he couldn't help but feel a great sense of regret.

People are all like this; GGBond is also a person, so he is the same.

"Some fans have stated that if the Chinese team had reached the World Cup quarter-finals, or if Manchester United had reached the Champions League final, you would have had the chance to directly surpass Luka 【Modrić】. Do you think this viewpoint is correct?"

This topic was quite interesting; the other reporters present who had not yet asked questions temporarily ceased their clamor.

"..."

"To be honest, I don't know either."

Tang Ye shook his head: "But these things have already happened, so there is nothing to say regarding 'what if.' I feel that my teammates and I already did our best during the Champions League and the World Cup."

He shrugged: "Luka was indeed brilliant; no one expected Croatia to reach the final at the start."

Tang Ye himself had thought about the issue raised by the reporter many times, because the topic of the Ballon d'Or had been very hot over the past few months.

#IfChinaHadWonOneMoreGameCouldTangYeHaveDefeatedModric#IfManchesterUnitedHadWonOneMoreGame...

At first, Tang Ye still felt the fans were right, because it was precisely due to playing too few matches that he missed out on the World Cup Best Young Player award.

However, later on, Tang Ye also figured it out.

The current result was actually not wrong.

If one keeps clinging to regret, one will never be able to be happy in the future.

It is hard to imagine how terrible a person's life would be if they drank an ice-cold cola yet could not feel happy.

"... Last year was your first time participating in the Ballon d'Or selection, and your ranking was 7th, while this year you pulled your ranking up to 2nd."

"An incredibly exaggerated rate of progress. Last year, when Ronaldo accepted his award, he also stated in an interview that you would win the Ballon d'Or in the future. Do you agree with his view?"

Tang Ye did not speak, but there was a smile on his face.

Check Dongqiu Di Pinned Post: The 2018 Ballon d'Or award ceremony has concluded; Modrić breaks history, Tang Ye and CR7 take second and third respectively, Messi ranks 6th. (Comment count: 87,239)

【A bit of a pity, brothers.】

【Give us our money back!!!!】

【Isn't my Tang Tang Qiuwang stronger than Modrić? Are the voters' brains not clear?】

【Thinking about it carefully, if there hadn't been a World Cup this year, wouldn't this Ballon d'Or have belonged to my GGBond?】

【The problem is, without the World Cup, Tang Ye might not have been able to surpass CR7. Tang Ye gained a lot of points from the World Cup too, just not as many as Magic Flute.】

After the award ceremony ended, all Premier League players boarded planes directly back to England, and Manchester United officially released their celebration poster at this time.

Tang Ye, wearing the number 10 jersey, kissed the Kopa Trophy.

He stood on the grass of Old Trafford stadium, with the starry sky of Manchester behind him.

Fans' eyes were equipped with microscopes; upon enlarging the photo, one could see a faintly visible Ballon d'Or trophy within the starry sky.

!

What does Manchester United official mean by this!

France Football announces the final scores for the 2018 Kopa Trophy:

1. Tang Ye (Manchester United/China), 110 points (unanimous vote).

2. Mbappé (Paris/France), 88 points.

3. Pulisic (Dortmund/USA), 22 points.

4. Kluivert Jr. (Roma/Netherlands), 19 points.

5. Rodrygo (Santos/Brazil), 11 points.

Just as the fans had guessed, the Kopa Trophy was completely a showcase for just two people: Tang Ye and Mbappé.

One with 110, one with 88; everyone else was utterly crushed.

Manchester Evening News — Tang Ye is the Premier League player closest to the Ballon d'Or since CR7.

The news given by the Manchester Evening News was somewhat shocking, but it was indeed the truth.

Since CR7 left Manchester United, no Premier League player has won the Ballon d'Or, and Tang Ye is the one closest to winning it.

Actually, getting third place would have been fine, but the fact that Tang Ye's vote count ranked second gave the Premier League, especially Manchester United players, a huge sense of deprivation.

The day after the award ceremony ended, with the match between Manchester United and Arsenal at home not far away, the FA suddenly started acting up.

FA Chairman Greg Clarke: The 2018 Ballon d'Or should have belonged to Tom; La Liga players enjoyed too much favoritism in the awards.

(End of Chapter)